Cigarette turning device



Dec. 19, 1950 J. T. DALTON CIGARETTE TURNING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Nov. 2, .1948

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INVENTOR Joly v 7 DALTON BY WWW 014M rm J Mafia flow/M ATTORNEY Dec. 19,1950 4. 1', DALTON 2,534,954

CIGARETTE TURNING DEVICE Filed NOV. 2, 1948 INVENTOR Jaw/v 7'1) ro/vATTORNEY iatented Dec. 19,1959

CIGARETTE TURNING DEVICE John T. Dalton, Durham, N. 0., assignor to TheAmerican Tobacco Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New JerseyApplication November 2,1948, Serial No. 57,928

(Cl. l98--31) 3 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of cigarettes and moreparticularly to improvements in cigarette making machines employed inthe manufacture of tipped cigarettes.

In the manufacture of cigarettes, tobacco is delivered in uniformamounts from a tobacco feeder to a cigarette making machine. The tobaccoso fed is passed through a tubular member, the cigarette paper placedaround it and sealed and the product then cut to a predetermined lengthto produce cigarettes. The completed cigarettes at the outlet of thecigarette making machine are fed across the front of the machine on abelt where they are inspected and placed in containers to be carried tothe packaging machines.

In the manufacture of tipped cigarettes, the tipping material of doublethe size of the tip is placed on the cigarette before severing atintervals equal to the length of two cigarettes. The cigarette is thensevered both at a point intermediate of adjacent sections of the tippingmaterial and in the middle of each section of the tipping material. As aresult, the tipped cigarettes are delivered from the cigarette makingmachine with alternate cigarettes reversed, that is, the tip on onecigarette is at the forward end and the tip on the next cigarette is atthe rear end. Heretofore, it has been the practice to provide twotransverse belts to deliver the cigarettes across the front of themachine for inspection, Suitable means are provided for feeding eachalternate cigarette to the inner belt and the next cigarette is fed tothe outer belt. This results in the cigarettes traveling along thetransverse belts to the operator or inspector in reversed positions. Inremoving the cigarettes, it is thus necessary for the operator toreverse those taken from one of the belts before placing them in thecontainer so that the cigarettes Will be delivered to the packagingmachine with the tubes of all of the cigarettes at the same end.

In the present invention I provide means for turning the cigarettesdelivered to one of the transverse belts so that all of the cigarettespass the operator with the tubes in the same relative position therebyavoiding the necessity of turning the cigarettes taken from one of thebelts. To accomplish this, I deliver each alternate cigarette to theinner belt as heretofore and then deliver the next cigarette to achannel formed adjacent the periphery of a rotary disc. The cigarettestravel around this disc a distance a little more than 180 so that theposition of the tip is reversed and are then delivered to the secondbelt. The cigarettes are thus delivered to the operator on both of thebelts with the tips at the same ends and the operator is thus able toplace them in the containers for transportation to the cigarettepackaging machines without reversing the cigarettes on either belt.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown one embodiment of theinvention. In this show- Fig. 1 is a plan view of the cigarette turningdevice;

Fig. 2 is a vertical, sectional view on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical, sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a similar view on line 4-6 of Fig, 1.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral i designates a belt bymeans of which the formed and severed cigarettes are delivered from thecigarette making machine (not shown). As is well known, the cigarettepasses to the belt I from the tube of the cigarette making machine pasta cutter (not shown) which severs the tubular cigarette body at properintervals to deliver the cigarettes of the desired length. The

belt 1 travels over pulleys, one of which is shown at 2 and one of whichis driven in any suitable manner. In manufacturing tipped cigarettes,the tipping material of double length is placed on the paper atintervals equal to the length of two cigarettes. The cutter severs thetubular body at a point intermediate between two strips of the tippingmaterial and also at the center of the tipping material so that as thecigarettes emerge from the machine, the position of the tips isreversed. The cigarettes are conveyed across the front of the machineover a table (not shown) on belts 3 and t. It has heretofore beencustomary to provide a device for removing each alternate cigarette fromthe belt 5 to the belts 3 and 4. One of such devices is shown inalignment with the belt 3. As shown (see Fig. 2) it consists of a hub 5having a plurality of arms or blades 6. The hub is mounted on a suitableshaft 1 and is driven in any suitable manner. The speed of rotation issuch that one of the arms 6 passes transversely over the belt as eachalternate cigarette moves along the belt i to deliver it to the belt 3.A plurality of such cigarettes C is shown on belt 3 with the tip Tinwardly or away from the front of the table.

If the alternate cigarette were delivered to the belt 4 by a similardevice, the tip would be reversed, To provide means for turning thecigarette, I deliver it from the belt I to mechanism whereby it iscarried through a path of 180. This mechanism comprises a disc 8 whichis rotatabl mounted on a shaft 9. The shaft 9 may be driven in anysuitable manner, As shown, it is provided with a bevel gear l meshingwith a bevel gear ll arranged on a horizontal shaft [2. Shaft I2 ismounted in bearings formed in brackets it. The end of the shaft may beprovided with a sprocket M which receives a chain [5 passing oversprocket E5 on the shaft 1. A stationary flange ll extends around thedisc from the point where the cigarettes are delivered from the belt 5slightly more than 180 to the edge of the belt 4. As shown, the portioni8 of this flange is slightly spaced from the edge of the disc. Anotherstationary guide member [9 is arranged over the disc substantiallyparallel to the end portion [8 of the flang ll and extends across thebelt 4.

The operation of the device will be apparent from the foregoingdescription. The cigarettes, after severing, are fed from the cigarettemaking machine on the belt 1 with the tips reversed. The device 5travels at such speed, timed to the speed of the belt I, that eachalternate cigarette is delivered to the belt 3 with its tip T at therear. If the remainin cigarettes were delivered to the belt 4 by asimilar removing device, the tips would be reversed. However, as thebelt I reaches the point where its path is intersected by the disc 8,the cigarettes are fed into the trough between the flange 20 of the discand the outer guide IT. The cigarettes travel around on the disc asindicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings until they reach the point wheretheir travel with the disc is impeded by the guide 19. The cigarettesare then fed transversely of the belt l assumin the position shown inFig. 1 of the drawings with their tips at the inner ends. The belts 3and (5 pass over the operating table (not shown) where the cigarettesare removed by the operator and inspected and placed in containers to becarried to the packaging machines.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for delivering cigarettes from a cigarette making machineand reversin alternate cigarettes comprisin a belt to which thecigarettes are initially delivered, a pair of belts traveling at rightangles to the first belt, a rotatable device arranged over the firstmentioned belt in alignment with one of said pair of belts to deliveralternate cigarettes thereto, a rotating disc intersecting the path ofthe first belt beyond the rotatable device to which the other alternatecigarettes are delivered, and a guide extending across the disc andterminating over the second pair of belts to deliver cigarettes from thedisc to the second of the pair of belts with the ends of such cigarettesreversed.

2. Apparatus for delivering cigarettes from a cigarette making machineand reversing alternate cigarettes comprising a belt to which thecigarettes are initially delivered, a pair of belts traveling at rightangles to the first belt, a rotatable device arranged over the firstmentioned belt in alignment with one of said pair of belts to deliveralternate cigarettes thereto, a rotating disc intersecting the path ofthe first belt beyond the rotatable device to which the other alternatecigarettes are delivered, the disc being provided with a flange, and aguide arranged adjacent the disc to form a trough between it and theflange, said guide terminating over the second of the pair of belts todeliver cigarettes from the disc to the second belt with the ends of thecigarettes reversed.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 wherein a second guide extendsfrom a point in the path of the flange substantially parallel to the endof the first guide over the second of the pair of belts.

JOHN T. DALTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ie ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 971,999 Hodge Oct. 4, 19101,988,518 Rundell Jan. 22, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date123,451 Germany June 25, 1931 232,861 Germany Nov. 21, 1909 243,268Germany Aug. 13, 1911 256,436 Germany Jan. 7, 1912 447,705 Great BritainMay 25, 1936 473,786 Great Britain Oct. 20, 1937

